(Reuters) - Zimbabwe’s energy regulator has raised petrol
and diesel prices by up to 16%, the fourth increase this year, after the
finance minister said fuel was considerably cheaper than in neighbouring
countries.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the biggest fuel
price hike in January, a 150% increase, which sparked deadly protests by
financially struggling Zimbabweans that left more than a dozen people dead
after an army clampdown.
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority said late on
Friday that effective Saturday, petrol would cost 6.10 Zimbabwe dollars ($0.70)
a litre, up from 5.26, while the price of diesel had been increased 13% to 5.84
Zimbabwe dollars.
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube was quoted in a daily
newspaper on Thursday as saying he would be happy if the price of fuel was
equivalent to $1 per litre.
While Ncube wants fuel prices to reflect import costs, many
Zimbabweans can barely afford to pay them when the unemployment exceeds 80% and
the entry-level wage for a government employee is about $49 a month - enough to
buy a car tyre.
But with no sign of an end to rolling power cuts in the
southern African country, demand for fuel has risen as businesses resort to
more expensive diesel-powered generators.
Analysts say this is increasing the price of doing
business, with companies likely to pass the cost to consumers, who are already
grappling with inflation of nearly 100%.
There were long queues at service stations selling fuel
early on Saturday.
Hopes that living standards would soon improve under
Mnangagwa, who came to power after Robert Mugabe was removed in a coup in 2017,
have not been realised. Instead, Zimbabweans are frustrated by daily power
outages lasting up to 17 hours and severe shortages of U.S. dollars, fuel,
bread, and medicines.
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